As the saying goes, the market is the market. But what is the market?
It’s an important question as it relates to Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, as they hold-in (wisely) pending new contracts.
The running back market is currently led by Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, with a new-money APY of $20.6 million. The prevailing view would be that Barkley’s deal becomes the bar that Robinson and Gibbs should be trying to nudge a little bit higher.
The other side of it is that they should be blowing the whole thing up.
The receiver market is north of $42 million. Who would you rather have on your favorite team? Robinson or Gibbs — or Seahawk receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the current highest-paid receiver in the NFL?
How about Robinson/Gibbs or Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who pushed the receiver number to $40 million last year?
The question, however it’s resolved, is far closer than the gap between what Smith-Njigba/Chase are making and where the top of the running back market currently resides.
That’s not to say all veteran running backs should be making considerably more, even if they should. The best running backs touch the ball more often than the best receivers. The best running backs present defenses with a player who constantly needs to be tracked, wherever they go and whatever they do. The best running backs open up the entire offense.
But they also present a much greater risk of injury, given the traffic of large torsos and limbs around and through which they constantly run. They are, at any given time, one play away from not being able to play for the rest of the season. The teams don’t want to tie up that much cap and cap space in such hazards.
For now, the question focuses on Robinson and Gibbs. Should it be a matter of getting them to $21 million or $22 million per year, or should they be north of $25 million?
If Robinson or Gibbs were currently available to any team, wouldn’t they get at least $25 million per year?
That’s likely the biggest issue the Falcons and Lions are facing. In Atlanta, former head coach Raheem Morris repeatedly said last year that Robinson is the best player in the league. In Detroit, the Lions have reconfigured the roster to make Gibbs the workhorse.
They’re still young; both are 24. They’re in their primes, with plenty of tread on the tires. This is the time for them to get as much as they can. And it’s easy to argue that they should get something closer to what the best receivers get than where the top of the running back market currently sits.
Falcons Clips
Falcons running back Bijan Robinson is not fully participating in training camp as he seeks a new contract. Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski is not concerned about that.
Asked about his own communications with Robinson, Stefanski declined to get into specifics, but he said he was confident that the two sides are doing everything they can.
“I don’t think it’s fair to share those types of things,” Stefanski said. “We all trust in the process of what’s going on.”
Stefanski says he doesn’t hold it against Robinson that he is choosing not to practice until he gets the contract he wants.
“The NFL, you understand different things come up via all sorts of things, and contracts obviously are a part of that. It doesn’t change relationships,” Stefanski said.
It is highly likely that the Falcons and Robinson will agree to a new deal before the season starts. Until then, Robinson will watch practice, and Stefanski sounds OK with that.
In his rookie year of 2023, Falcons guard Matthew Bergeron became an instant starter. With three years under his belt, he’s now getting his reward.
The Falcons have announced that Bergeron has been signed to a contract extension.
ESPN reports that it’s a four-year, $96 million deal, with $60 million guaranteed at least for injury. (The full guarantees at signing weren’t specified.)
Bergeron started all 17 games in 2023 and 2024. He started 15 games in 2025, missing two.
As a rookie, Bergeron was on the field for every offensive snap.
He was on track for free agency or the franchise tag in 2027. Now, he is signed through 2030.
Next up, presumably, will be the team’s first-round pick in 2023. The guy for whom Bergeron blocks. The guy who may be the best player in all of the NFL: running back Bijan Robinson.
Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa spoke about the back issue that has limited him in practice this week for the first time on Friday.
Tagovailoa said at a press conference that he started feeling “just some tightness” in his back sometime last week and that led to the decision for him to sit out Wednesday’s opening practice of training camp. Tagovailoa has done limited practice work the last couple of days and said that the current plan is to continue taking things slow because of where they are in the calendar.
“I think just right now, it’s just a precaution thing early on in camp and then we’ll work through that,” Tagovailoa said. “I feel great right now. Like I said, it feels good to be out there with the guys, be able to throw, continue to hear the plays, get in the huddle with the guys. All of that.”
Tagovailoa said this is the first time he’s experienced the back issue and that he’s done a lot of work in a pool with the training staff to relieve the tension he’s been under.
As of now, there’s no timetable for when Tagovailoa will move up to a full practice workload but there wasn’t much sign of concern from him or head coach Kevin Stefanski about how long it will be until that time arrives.
Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was able to do some practice work on Thursday after missing the start of camp with back tightness and head coach Kevin Stefanski gave an update on how he’s feeling on Friday morning.
Stefanski said that Tagovailoa has not progressed to the point where he’s able to handle a full workload, but that he’s better than he was earlier in the week and expects to see the quarterback take those steps in the near future.
“I don’t know that he’s full yet,” Stefanski said at a press conference. “Got in there in a few of the slower jog-through periods. He’s getting better every single day. I think he’ll remain on that trajectory, so really confident that he’ll be out there soon.”
Michael Penix is not doing full-team work either as he continues to work his way back from last season’s torn ACL. The dual injuries have put a damper on the team’s quarterback competition, but it doesn’t sound like Tagovailoa is far off from making his case for the job in all phases of practice.
Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has been absent from the start of training camp for personal reasons. The team announced Thursday night that Ulbrich’s wife, Cristina, has died.
“The Atlanta Falcons are heartbroken by the passing of Cristina Ulbrich, beloved wife of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, after her courageous battle with cancer,” the Falcons said in a statement. “Cristina was a devoted wife, mother, and friend whose strength, grace, and resilience touched all who knew her. She was a constant source of love and support to Jeff, their family, and the broader Falcons community.
“On behalf of the entire organization, we extend our deepest condolences to Jeff, their children, and all who loved Cristina.
“During this incredibly difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with the Ulbrich family. We ask that their privacy be respected as they grieve this profound loss, and we stand with them in support and remembrance of Cristina’s life.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Ulbrich family and the Falcons organization.
In 2024, the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins in free agency and then drafted Michael Penix in the first round. They moved on from Cousins and signed veteran Tua Tagovailoa this offseason.
Yet, it’s Jack Strand currently running their offense.
The undrafted rookie got a phone call from Falcons quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt the night before the first training camp practice. Van Pelt informed Strand that Tagovailoa would miss some time with a back injury and Penix was not cleared for team work, leaving Strand as the only quarterback on the roster.
“I didn’t think about it too much,” Strand said after Thursday’s practice, via Will McFadden of the team website. “I’m coming into training camp and everything just trying to take it day by day. Keep attacking every day. Keep getting better every day, whether I’m getting a bunch of reps or I’m not getting as many reps. Whatever reps that I do get, whether it’s in Indy, whether it’s in RVA, whether it’s in team, anything, I’m just going to try to attack those reps and try to keep getting with those, and then also from watching the guys around me.”
The Falcons have since signed veteran Cooper Rush, and Tagovailoa did some light throwing during the individual periods on Thursday. So, Strand might not have much longer with the first-team.
But the former Minnesota State-Moorhead is focused on getting better every day, no matter where he is on the depth chart or in the rotation.
“That’s something that I’ve been telling myself a ton: Be where your feet are. Enjoy the moment,” Strand said. “Don’t look in the past. Don’t dwell on any mistakes or any success that you might have had. Don’t look to the future and wonder what’s going to be happening in two weeks, in three weeks, in a couple of months or anything. Just be where your feet are.”
Linebacker Josh Woods is back for another run with the Falcons.
The team announced Woods’s signing on Thursday. Defensive lineman Ross Blacklock was released in a corresponding move.
Woods spent the last two seasons in Atlanta. He saw almost all of his playing time on special teams and recorded 15 tackles in 17 appearances.
Woods has also played for the Bears, Lions, and Cardinals since entering the league in 2019. He has 137 tackles, four tackles for loss, a half-sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery over his entire career.
Blacklock signed with the Falcons after he tried out at their rookie minicamp. He appeared in 44 games for the Texans, Vikings, Jaguars and Titans, but last appeared in a regular season game in 2023.
Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed the first practice of training camp with back tightness, but head coach Kevin Stefanski said that he didn’t expect it to be a lengthy absence and his prediction was proven correct on Thursday.
Multiple reporters at the Falcons’ second practice of camp shared pictures and video of Tagovailoa on the field with a helmet on. The videos show Tagovailoa throwing passes and doing some other individual drills.
Tagovailoa did join quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Jack Strand for other positional work, but he should ramp up his workload in the coming days as long as the back issue does not flare up again.
Michael Penix is also out of team drills at the moment and he said on Wednesday that it remains unclear when he will get the green light to take that step in his recovery from last season’s torn ACL.
Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs did not practice on Wednesday, as he stages an apparent hold-in while awaiting a new contract.
Head coach Dan Campbell briefly addressed the situation with ESPN’s Eric Woodyard.
“This will kind of continue,” Campbell told Woodyard. “It’ll come as it comes. I think that’s the best way to say it. This is both sides working through something and we’ll take it as it comes, but that’s where it is.”
While that’s not explicit, direct confirmation of Gibbs holding in, it’s probably about as close as it can get.
The Lions’ situation is compounded by the fact that the Falcons are encountering a similar situation with running back Bijan Robinson. Both players were selected in the first round of the 2023 draft, and both have been selected to multiple Pro Bowls.
But that also means whoever agrees to a new deal first between Gibbs and Robinson will likely make less money than the other.
We’ll see who signs first between the two star running backs.
